


The Phoenix Queen

by Masqueradewitch



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Urban Fantasy, just starting, mostly explanation right now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 05:34:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6182515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masqueradewitch/pseuds/Masqueradewitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaileena never put any stock in end of the world stories.  She was concerned with doing her job and keeping the peace in her little corner of the magical world.  Now she has to deal with missing vampires, kidnapped researchers, a homicide detective who definitely didn't expect this and an ancient prophecy about something that should be impossible.  Oh, and she probably won't get paid for this</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Phoenix Queen

Throughout history, mankind has predicted the end of the world. From the Mayan Calendar and the Norse myths of Ragnarok to the slightly more modern Biblical Revelations and coming of the Antichrist. Modern media spins tales of the apocalypse in both fantasy and realistic settings. I’m sure that philosophers everywhere have loads to say on the subject but the fact is that humanity as a whole believe that some day, the world will end, most likely in fire and blood. The supernatural world has there own versions, but they all pretty much end the same way. Great cataclysm, total annihilation, goodbye all life on our planet. To be honest, I never really gave it much thought. I had a little too much on my plate every day with running my own business and keeping up with my duties as a …..but I'm getting ahead of myself.

First of all I am going to assume that you, the person reading this, is a normal human being. You are a person with no magical abilities yourself and perhaps you will read this story and dismiss it as just another work of fiction, and that’s just fine. Or maybe, you are a normal human being who saw something that cannot be unseen and now you’re trying to understand how and why the world got so very strange in a hurry. Well, to explain that, I’ll have to start from scratch. If you are already aware of this strange and yet familiar world already, you may want to skip this next bit.

Ask a thousand different people and you’ll get a thousand different reasons for why things happened the way they did, but what everyone can agree on is that long ago, well before recorded history, Magiks and normals coexisted rather peacefully. Imagine a city from a Dungeon and Dragons game where different races and classes all walk the same markets and drink in the same taverns while spells get tossed about on occasion and you’ll have some idea of what it may have been like. I can’t say it was exactly like that I’m not quite thirty years old myself, but if you know where to look, there are beings still around that walked those same markets and drank in those taverns. Not even those ancient beings can remember for certain how things worsened but the fact remains that war began between the Normals and the Magiks. Magiks had and still have some truly awe inspiring abilities that science is only just now beginning to scratch the surface of, but humans are resilient and determined. Things seemed to spiral out of control and the end of days looked like it would arrive a far sight sooner than any of those doomsday criers would have expected. Then the Phoenix King declared that this would not occur and pulled together the most powerful magical creatures and users of the day and created The Veil. The whole story is wrapped in mystery and double dipped in enigma and shadow but what we do know is that The Veil exists. Any Magik with a drop of power in them can see it if they focus just a little.

The Veil hangs across the eyes of Normals in a haze that can never really be seen straight on. From the front it is the barest shimmer, like heat waves rising from asphalt in the desert at noon. At a more oblique angle it takes on an almost gauzy appearance, hence calling it The Veil (and yes, the capitals are necessary.) The Veil keeps Normals from seeing the Magiks around them, but only to a point. A mountain troll stomping down Fifth Avenue is going to be noticed, Veil or no Veil. But with The Veil, glamours are just that more easily accepted. You ever see a glimmer in the corner of your eye, that you could have sworn was a pair of wings? Then you turn for a second look, and no, it was just the sunlight hitting that patch of flowers. That’s how The Veil works. Personally, I think it’s a little more complicated.

When I was a kid, still learning about the things I could do as well as the normal school subjects (I hated math even though I have a knack for doing basic calculations in my head) I noticed something among my lessons about The Veil and my duties in keeping it intact. More on that in a bit. Everywhere I went, infants and small children seemed to see straight through glamours and The Veil wherever they went. A baby in a stroller would squeal and reach for a group of pixies swarming a flower bed. A toddler would chase after dryads dancing amidst the trees in a park. Even some older children would notice things the adults around them were unable to see. As they grew older, they began to make themselves ignore the things they could see, chalking it up to a childish imagination. And then The Veil would settle upon them and my world would be ignored. I asked my mother once why normal people would choose to suppress the spark of magic that I could see within them. She just smiled and said it was a complicated answer, and she would need time to properly explain it. My mother would never condescend to me, never told me I would not understand. She would simply ask for time to put the answer right in her own head before she would give it to me. I never did get to hear what she had to say about that particular question. 

I’m sorry for the rambling nature of the last few pages. I have never been one for writing great epics, though I adore reading them late at night in the library. By now I am sure you are asking yourself, who the hell is this person telling me about ancient history and veils and magic? I suppose introductions are a bit overdue and I hope you will forgive me. My name is Kaileena Kayson. I am a witch from a long line of Watchers. Now, I don’t mean a bunch of stuffy middle aged men hunkered down in ancestral mansions in England sending young girls out to fight the supernatural until she dies (you’ll have to forgive me the Buffy reference I am a great fan of Joss Whedon’s shows). Watchers are members of family lines who enforce the law as set down by the Phoenix King, the closest thing to God we Magiks have. The tradition of bloodlines carrying the duty started I don’t even know how many generations back but it is just that. A tradition among families. There are those who choose not to take up the family mantle for whatever reason just as there are those who take up the job though they have no connection to Watcher bloodlines. There is no special power bestowed to Watchers, it is just a title. You could call us supernatural sheriffs, I know I have in times past. Magiks hold us in high regard, and for the most part the job is minimal damage control. The main part of being a Watcher is dealing with Bridgers.

Bridgers are what we call Normals who have had The Veil torn so completely from their eyes that they can see Magiks as clearly as any born on the magical side of The Veil. There is no way to undo this, at least, none that I have ever encountered. Bridgers are, unfortunately, mainly made up of those who survive attacks by vampires, werewolves, demons and the like. By necessity I have become very good at listening and helping people with the trauma. If the supernatural wasn’t hidden from the rest of the world, I could probably have gotten a degree in psychology just from my Watcher duties. If I had the patience to go to college, maybe. Still, I do a pretty good job without that fancy degree, and my day job pays the bills. I work as a private detective, which is truthfully amazingly boring work ninety percent of the time. I have an adopted brother, Nios, and my almost grandfather Marcus for living family, and a few very close friends that have stood beside me for a long time.

You know, for all I’ve written on these pages so far, I can’t seem to bring myself to talk about the events I sat down to write about in the first place. It all comes back to what I was saying about the end of the world and prophecy. See, Magiks have a lot of end of the world prophecies, but it is pretty commonly accepted that someone would come along to vanquish said prophecy as was written along. Pretty much every prophecy is written in vague wnough terms as to be overturned. Of course, there are exceptions. The biggest prophecy in the world of Magiks is the one about the rise of the Phoenix Queen, and how she would defeat the Childe of Darkness, a being of such nightmares as to make any Lovecraftian leviathan resemble a tiny bunny, and unmake the world. No one ever talked about it because the Phoenix Queen was an impossibility. The Phoenix King is not just a fancy title. He’s literally a phoenix. You know, flaming bird, rises from its own ashes, truly immortal being? Well, there are several phoenixes around the world and they all pledge their allegiance to the King. All Magiks, in point of fact, will bow to the Phoenix King. So how can there be a rise of a Queen when the King can never die? I certainly never gave it any thought. Figures I would be the one stuck racing against time to find her so the world wouldn’t be consumed.


End file.
